GTA Online Detailed, Shipping With Over 500 Missions

More info for Grand Theft Auto V's online mode has surfaced, courtesy of the latest issue of Game Informer. Looking at these details, it looks like its online mode is going to be massive.

The objective of GTA Online is to gain as much money as possible, which players will be able to use to purchase things like cars and housing. Money management will be a necessity as other players can rob you in the game's world, thus it'll be wise for players to utilize ATM machines and banks to store their cash safely. Bounties can be placed on your enemies if you happen to be robbed by another player.

GTA Online takes place after the single-player campaign, and you can expect to interact with characters that made it through the end of the game's story. In regards to interacting with these characters, your main character in particular won't speak during cutscenes. Players will have the choice to play as a female character too. When creating their character, users will be able to pick their parents and grandparents as well as their lifestyle and other attributes that can affect how they behave. The type of person you craft will have an affect on their role in missions, so it's best to create a character that you'll enjoy playing.

Speaking of missions, there's going to be over 500 of them available, ranging from robberies, heists, armored car hijacks, tennis, golf, races, and base jumping. As you complete missions for characters, more options will be available through favors, like being able to order artillery strikes from a security firm. The missions themselves will update regularly through Rockstar's Social Club.

GTA Online is the result of a concept that has been in the works since Grand Theft Auto 3.

"We've always wanted to create a world with the complexity of a single-player Grand Theft Auto game with the addition of real players," said Leslie Benzies, president of Rockstar North. "We wanted a world where people could spend years without getting bored of playing the same content over and over."

The plan of GTA Online is "to create an entire Grand Theft Auto world that consists of everything we've done or are going to do then let the player freely move between them."

GTA Online won't be available at launch — you'll have to wait until October 1 to get a shot at the online mode. It's probably for the best now that it's revealed that the online mode will take place after the main story in GTA V. The game itself will arrive on September 17 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.